Weekly news recap – April 8, 2016

The latest news of the week. A round-up of the news over the past week so you can be sure of staying up to date with what’s happening in the world.

New bug in iOS 9.3 allows to see contacts and photos bypassing authentication

Long time we didn’t see bugs like this. Users found method in the new iOS 9.3 to bypass password authentication and access contacts and photos stored on the iPhone. Perfect for jealous girlfriends. The exploit was found in Siri. It works only on iPhone 6s, since you will need 3D Touch feature. In addition, the phone must have configured twitter account. So the bug works as follows:

Start Siri by long pressing the home button or by saying “Hey Siri”.

Launch search on Twitter.

If the tweet has the contact information such as email, then invoke the menu through the 3D Touch and select “Add to existing contact”.

Now, you will see a list of all the user’s contacts. Add to anyone without a photo.

Set the photo and go to the gallery, where you can see all user’s photos.

This method works perfectly on iOS 9.3.1. Please do not use this method in the mercenary purposes, however you can show it to your friends.

Recently, Apple showed a new Safari browser specifically for developers. Safari Technology Preview helps testers to point out errors and bugs. Developers will find it handy for a more rapid release of the updated software after the release of the version for users.

Apple promises to update Safari Technology Preview every two weeks, providing the access to the latest versions of WebKit, CSS, HTML and JavaScript. As well as the usual version of Safari, the browser will synchronize the history, bookmarks and settings via iCloud. In additional, Apple does not prohibit to run simultaneously two versions of Safari to compare – compare the work can be quickly and conveniently.

Not only the developers can download Safari Technology Preview, but also all interested users who want to test a new version of the browser. By the way, the future updates will be available in the Mac App Store.

Apple released the first beta version of iOS 9.3.2, OS X 10.11.5, tvOS 9.2.1 and watchOS 2.2.1 for developers

Apple released the first version of iOS 9.3.2 beta 1 (13F51a build number), OS X 10.11.5 beta 1 (15F18b), tvOS 9.2.1 beta 1 (13Y5742b) and watchOS 2.2.1 beta 1 (13V413) for developers. Registered developers can already download the update from the section “Software Update” in the settings of their device, or find them on the respective portal for Apple developers.

All of the above mentioned versions are mainly devoted to the correction of errors and include various improvements. At first glance, no they do not contain innovations. Perhaps, after a careful study of the firmware, developers will be able to find something interesting.

It is expected that within the annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which will take place in June, Apple will present a series of major updates of its firmware, in particular, the 10th version of iOS and OS X 10.12, although, according to media reports, operating system for Mac may be renamed to macOS.

Leaked photo of dual camera module for iPhone 7 Plus

On the Internet more than once appeared contradictory rumors about the design and functional features of the new generation of Apple smartphone, which announcement is expected already in September this year. In particular, it was reported that the iPhone 7 will receive a dual camera.

As became known from the report of KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, dual camera module will be implemented only in the larger model – 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus. In the Chinese microblogging network appeared photos that are supposedly leaked of the dual camera module of the iPhone 7 Plus. According to the user who posted the image, it contains samples of the module which is being tested by Apple experts. However, a few months before the presentation of the new smartphone it is difficult to say anything for sure.

If the analyst’s predictions are true, and the implementation of dual camera will be the only significant difference between the iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone7 Plus, this fact will disappoint many fans of large models, willing to pay a lot of money for the newer and better smartphone.

The head of the FBI: Our hacking method does not work on the iPhone 5s, 6 and 6s

Lately, the hype around the FBI’s statement about the successful hacking of iPhone 5C, which belonged to a terrorist from San Bernardino Syed Farooq, does not subside. The Bureau refuses to disclose the method by which they managed to unlock the device without the help of Apple. However, on the part of law enforcement officers have been naïve to assume that their method will not be interesting for the US members of government, among whom are certainly a lot of iPhone owners.

The FBI had to lift the veil of secrecy over how they hacked the device for some US senators, including the representative of California Dianne Feinstein. The head of security services James Comey resigned to the fact that the Bureau will not be able to retain the information, so he decided to disclose some information about the hack of the terrorist’s iPhone 5c.

During a speech at the Biennial Conference in Kenyon College Comey said that to bypass iPhone security they used a tool, purchased from a third party company. As previously reported, to crack the device FBI has signed a contract with the Israeli company Cellebrite.

According to the Bureau, the tool for unlocking only works for “some phones” and doesn’t work on the iPhone 5s and later models. Obviously, it can be used to hack smartphones based on Apple A6 processor, but against Apple A7 and later it is powerless. This means that using this method, the law enforcement agencies will not be able to unlock a new iPhone, which are material evidences in other criminal cases.

As Comey said, if they will tell Apple about the vulnerability in their products, Cupertino will immediately fix it and the FBI experts “will be in the same place where they started”.